Horseshoe ice-creeper.



FRANK F. JACOBS, F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

HORSESHOE ICE-CREEPER.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914..

Application filed January 28, 1914. Serial No. 815,023.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK F. JACOBS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Horseshoe Ice- Creepers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in ice creepers for horseshoes and the object of the invention is to provide a device which will be light in weight, but strong, and which will be inexpensive to manufacture and which will be easily applied to the shoe while on the horses foot and as easily re moved; and a further object of my invention is to provide a device which will be adapted to fit on all sizes of shoes, thereby avoiding the necessity of making more than one size of ice creepers.

I accomplish the above, and other objects which will hereinafter appear, by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the underside of a horseshoe with my improved ice creeper in operative position secured thereto. F 2 is a perspective view in full lines of the mechanism of my ice creeper, showing the opposite side of the creeper mechanism from that shown in Fig. 1, being the top side of said parts in use. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 83 of Fig. 1 and Fig. a is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

5 is a horseshoe of any usual and suitable construction. The creeper mechanism comprises two principal body-members in the form of flat plates, 6 and 7, adapted to contact the bottom of the horseshoe in use. These plates reach from near the toe of the shoe to near the heel of the latter and are provided with holes near their ends for the insertion of removable calks 8. The material of the plates is cupped outwardly around the calk-holes to receive the enlarged inner ends of the calks to prevent accidental removal of the latter, as shown.

Opposite the rear calk-holes near the heel of the shoe on each plate 6 and 7 are out wardly formed tongues 9 bent upwardly at substantially right angles to their plates to provide bearings against the adjacent outer edges of the shoe to keep that end of each plate from swinging inwardly of the shoe in use.

Formed near the front or toe-ends of plates 6 and 7 are the inwardly projected plate-extensions 10 and 11, approximately at right angles to their respective bodyplates and long enough to cause the ends of the two plate-extensions to overlap each other in use, as shown. The plate-extension 10 is offset from the plane of its plate 6 the thickness of extension 11 to give contact between said extensions without tilting either of their plates 6 or 7. The plat-eextensions 10 and 11 each have a series of holes 13 adapted to register at different positions of the plates, to suit conditions as when the same ice creepers are used on horseshoes of different sizes, and the holes'are for the insertion of bolts 14 by which the overlapping plate-extensions are fastened together.

Plates 6 and 7 are broadened adjacent the plate-extensions 10 and 11 so as to project inwardly of the shoe, as shown and bolt holes 16 are formed in said overhanging plate portions, toward the heels of the plates from 10 and 11 and a bolt 17 is passed through one of said holes. The heads 18 of said bolts are flat and are enlarged sufliciently in diameter to extend well onto the adjacent shoe member between the latter and the hollow underside of the animals hoof. The heads of the bolts are above the plates through which the bolts pass and are provided with threaded ends and nuts and when the nuts are tightened the heads 18 of the bolts are drawn correspondingly down against the horseshoe to clamp and lock the creeper-plates to the shoe. Inwardly projecting tongues 19 are formed integrally of the plates 6 and 7 opposite the bolt holes 16, and the ends of these tongues are bent up at right angles to the plates 6 and 7 termihating approximately even with the top of the adjacent shoe member and they form supports for the inner sides of the bolt heads 18, in the manner shown.

In applying my improved ice creeper to a shoe the plates 6 and 7 are placed in position as shown with the tongues 9 against the outer edges of the shoe near the heel of the shoe; the heads 18 of the bolts are then adjusted between the hoof and shoe with their bolts in contact with the adjacent edges of the shoe and then the plates 6 and 7 are pressed outwardly at their front ends and this maximum outward position is retained by means of the bolt l-l which is inserted through suitable ones of the holes in said tongue extensions 10 and 11. The nuts on the bolts 17 are now tightened up securely which completes the operation of adjusting the ice creepers on the horseshoe. I have shown and mentioned a series of bolt holes 16 and have shown two of such holes for each plate 6 and 7. These holes are at dii'lerent distances from the outer edges of the plates 6 and 7 and are so located in practice that the hole nearest the outer edges of the plateshere shown as the lower holes, are right for small and medium sized shoes while the upper holes, to which the bolts will be transferred, are suitable for extra medium and large sized shoes. The only changes required in adjusting the creepers to shoes of varying size are the changes of the bolts 17 just referred to and the bolts 1% in the overlapping tongues 10 and 11.

Iaving thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an ice creeper for horseshoes, a pair of body-plates contacting with opposite members of the bottom of the shoe and extending approximately from toe to heel of the shoe, each plate having a plurality of bolt holes at different distances from the outer edge of the plate, removable ealks in the heel and toe ends of said plates, an extensionplate from each body-plate in the direction of the other body-plate, one of said extension-plates overlapping the other, and both extension-plates having holes adapted to be brought into registerin the two plates, a bolt through a registering pair of said holes, a tongue from each plate formed to contact with and contacting with the outer edge of the adjacent shoe member, a bolt through one of said bolt holes of each plate on the inside of the shoe, said bolts having heads which contact with the top of the shoe-and supports for the bolt heads opposite the shoe supports comprising tongue extensions from the body-plates.

2. In an ice creeper for horseshoes, a pair of body-plates contacting with opposite members of the bottom of the shoe and extending approximately from toe to heel of the shoe, removable calks in the heel and toe ends of said plates, an extension-plate from each body-plate in the direction of the other body-plate, one of said extension-plates overlapping the other, and both extensionplates having holes adapted to be brought into register in the two plates, abolt through a registering pair of said holes, a tongue from each plate formed to contactwith and contacting with the outer edge of the adjacent shoe member, said plates being widened be tween their heels and said extension-plates, said widened portions having a plurality of bolt-holes which holes are at dii ferent distances from the outer edges of the plates, a bolt through a hole in each plate on the inside of the shoe, said bolts having heads which contact with the top of the shoe and supports for the bolt-heads opposite their shoe supports comprising extensions from the body-plates.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 20th day of January, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and fourteen.

FRANK F. JACOBS. [L. s]

Witnesses F. V. IVOERNER, I. L. LARSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

